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Small town rural deployments were the beginning of the wave, but the tide is nowembracing large urban metropolises. New York, San Francisco, Rome and Paris areamong the major cities planning wide-scale deployments. While these networks presentyet another new competitive threat to the broadband market landscape, there areopportunities to be grasped for service providers, whether fixed-line or wireless,if these companies play their cards right. Major vendors, such as Motorola, Cisco,HP and IBM are already reaping cumulative contract awards running into hundreds ofmillions of dollars.
 Generally speaking, we believe resistance towards Muni networks is futile, sayslead author Pam Duffey.  Finer points of the debate aside, it is fast becoming acity or state government duty to provide at least the means for widespread broadbandservice to the citizenry. By 2010/2011, we believe the majority of cities andtownships in the US will have a municipal wireless network in place and the focusthen will be in uniting them into a seamless, if not centralised, national network.Â
 New and emerging applications such as digital libraries, virtual laboratories,distance-indepen dent learning and tele-immersion will require broadband speeds andreverse the digital divide. In addition, applications such as LBS and gaming overcity-wide networks could seriously threaten existing carrier business models, addsDuffey.
For a large number of reasons, municipalities are considering the concept of aMunicipal Broadband Network as the "fifth utility." These communities are choosingbetween deploying fibre and a wireless broadband network using Wi-Fi hotspots, meshnetworks or pre-WiMAX technology. There will be a significant build-out, blendingtechnologies and building on existing service, both wired and unwired.
However, many technological and business factors need to be considered, any one ofwhich can better or worsen the outcome for any given municipality. Often, citieslack sufficient experience and knowledge of technologies to make the best choicesand compound the problem further by inadequately funding the effort or by employinga business model that can not sustain the endeavor.
This report examines the various technology options open to communities in deployingbroadband networks, as well as the business models, assessing the advantages anddisadvantages of each approach. It looks at case studies of successful and failedinitiatives, identifying and outlining the reasons behind them. The impact thatthese networks have had and will have on local markets and incumbent operators arealso analysed.
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Notes for EditorsIf you are interested in a more detailed overview of this report, please send ane-mail to sara.peerun@visiongain.com or phone Sara on 020 8767 6711 or visithttp://www.visiongainint elligence.com/reportDetail.asp x?reportId
